Active X alert on Falsh email 2

[pigrat]

I'm trying to send seasonal greetings in the form of a simple animated Flash movie. I've placed the swf in a table, and copied the body source into Outlook Express via the 'View', 'Source Edit' tab.

The problem is, it does n't work on all PC's, and pops up with the following error:

'Your current security settings prohibit running Active X controls on this page. As a result, the page may not be displayed correctly'

If the Internet Security Zone is set to 'Less secure but more functional', it works fine. The trouble is, this is not the default setting.

Why does it see a Flash movie as a possible security threat, and how do the funny emails you can send to your friends get past?

 

[prasoon]

first point here to note is does your friends have flash player and the flash plugins installed???
and what version of outlook express is installed on the reciever's system.. cause Microsoft is keep on increasing security with their new versions. moreover, as these days most of the trojans and viruses are delivered in the form of an Active X script through mails so it would be deficult.

if you just want to get away from all this mess then just make the flash greeting into an flash projector(*.exe) file and send it as an attachment.or just paste a link in the message body where you have placed yr flash movie..
hope it will work...
regards

 

[jstreich]

Using flash in e-mail == BAD IDEA
E-mail should never execute code... FLASH and JAVA have security rules built in that keep people from doing to horrible a thing when executed from a website. Local code, to be more practicle, doesn't have those restrictions, thus you CANNOT force your code to execute in an e-mail if their security settings are as strict as they should be.

Either make it an exe as an attachment (so the user has the choice of opening it if they trust you) or make it a GIF image if you aren't doing any fancy FS.

RANT
This is the same flaw that people who put out only a flash version of their site make, there are a lot of people out there who serf with strict security settings on. They do this as one of my freinds put it "because no webmaster should force my computer to execute any code locally that I didn't tell it to, buring my clock cycles wasting my time to load and run. Granted that he is a little extream, as he surfs w/o Javascript and sometimes using a text only web browser. Moreover, there is still a preconceived notion that a inverse relationship exsists between the amount of eyecandy and the amount of content on a site. So, please, always include a lo-bandwith plain vanillia copy of whatever you want people to see.
/RANT

 

[pigrat]

Thanks Prasoon...

It would have been great if they could have seen this little animation bobbing about in their mail, but you're right, I'll send them a link instead.

 

[pigrat]

Thanks jstreich...

I see what you mean. My intention was to bring a chuckle into someones mail, but I understand that there are malicious people out there that would try to do a lot worse.

Regarding the rant...

I too have a friend like this, and as I most of the time develop in Flash, we have had some interesting heated discussions in the past. A lot of people still want the Internet to be the way it was originally intended, but it is changing whether we like it or not.

I believe that Flash developers have an obligation to keep their content accessible. I always author in as low a version as possible, and keep the content slim. The trouble is that you can get into Flash very easily, hence there are a lot of bad examples of all singing, all dancing Flash sites that take an age to load in the Browser.

It does n't have to be like this. As far as the age old argument goes though, you'll always be on opposite sides of the same coin.

Thanks for your help

 

[billwatson]

agree with pigrat 100%

within a year or two much email will contain rich media (mostly flash)
clients are screaming for it because as a marketing tool its a proven success.
but as for making it an exe......well anyone who runs an exe they recieve by email deserves everything that happens to them.

 

[jstreich]

Yes, there are good times to use flash, but remember to use it responsibly.
- Flash as a navigation tool is silly... Because people without flash can't reach the non-flash content on the site.
- Flash that has the javascript popup about where to get flash, if they have javascript turned off, no popup. ... provide a text link (perhaps a image link with ALT tag) on the page under the flash movie.
- Any large body of text that appears in a movie that is worth people seeing should be mirrored on a non-flash page.
(rules you all already know... I know... I know...)

Remeber that by using FLASH exclusivly you actually lower the number of people who can (or will) veiw your site. Yes, there are a lot more people with broad band connection and a lot of people with P4s... but remeber there are also people with intel class computers running AOL with an IM program, IRC client a few telnet sessions and your movie open on a 56.6 modem connection. When they start lagging, your movie will go, not the open chat window to their best friend.

I'll sometimes run an EXE I get from a friend, if they sent it in a coherent message, are the author of the EXE, and mention it in their mail... But running an EXE is more secure than letting FS or javascript execute... You CHOOSE to open an EXE, a FS or JS script will do all it's harm without asking (you don't even have to open it, if it lands in the preveiw pane and security doesn't forbid it's running)....

 

[prasoon]

regarding pigrats main problem.. i.e. rich e-mail content. I just want to inform you all that i am currently working on a similar project (though i am new to server side) using Coldfusion and communication server. which would be then redily available on my own website.(which is under its designing phase at the moment)
regards
prasoon

 

[pigrat]

Hi Prasoon...

Do you have the URL yet? ( I'll keep watching )

 

[prasoon]

not yet..
i am have them currently on my local machine.. but soon it will be launched under the name of Propane.co.in..
but as its my own home portal i do it when i find time to do it, cause mostly i am bussy in my college studies.. and currently i have the foremost priority for my certification exam for the level 1 system administrator.

i will let you know when it will be up.
regards..